Maxar Technologies has expanded its partnership with Harris-Stowe State University, a historically black college and university in St. Louis, Missouri, as part of the company's continued commitment to the area, where the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is constructing its $1.7 billion modern campus.
The company said Wednesday it focuses on building a diverse workforce in St. Louis through its team up with HSSU as the area's geospatial ecosystem continues to grow following investment from the government, industry, academia and community organizations.
"These collaborations between government and industry are building the workforce of tomorrow, offering more opportunities for populations that are currently underrepresented in the geospatial community, and will ultimately contribute to U.S. national security," said Dan Jablonsky, CEO of Maxar.
Maxar has internship opportunities for HSSU students who completed Gateway Global American Youth and Business Alliance Academies' mentorship program.
The partnership also led to an HSSU-hosted GeoHornet Mapathon project that saw 12 university students and 18 other participants updating the OpenStreetMap with nearly 600 buildings to provide a more detailed map of north St. Louis.
OSM, a collaborative project to create a free editable world map, has a foundational mapping layer provided by Maxar’s high-resolution satellite imagery.